Old favorites…New discoveries. Fresh and easy!

Melt-in-your-mouth Homemade Cheese Crackers!

Cheese crackers! Who doesn’t love them? I had some Tillamook Extra Sharp Cheddar and decided I’d try to make my own. I adapted Smitten Kitchen’s recipe for Cheese Straws (which Deb adapted from The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook). I decided to cut the dough into little bite-sized squares. (Kind of like the crackers that come in the red box.)

Well, I now have a new favorite homemade cheese snack! These cheese crackers have a terrific cheesy, tangy flavor. They’re not as crisp as commercial crackers; they have a flaky tenderness similar to what you’d get if you baked little squares of pie crust. The amount of red pepper flakes is just right to give them a bit of a tang without adding heat.

This recipe is super-simple if you have a food processor. If you don’t, you could probably use a pastry blender to mix it together.

Deb advises that these will keep in the refrigerator in a sealed container for 2 days. The recipe doesn’t really make very many, so I can’t imagine they would last 2 days.

I had fun staging the photo with the martinis , but we’re not eating the crackers tonight. I’m packing them up in a plastic container; they’ll make a terrific snack for tomorrow’s hike!

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Cheese Crackers

(Adapted from a recipe on smittenkitchen.com, which was credited to a recipe in The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook)

2. Put everything except the milk in a food processor. Pulse the processor, 5 seconds at a time, for about 5 or 6 times, until the dough is in coarse crumbs.

3. Add the milk and process until the dough gathers together in a ball.

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4. Roll the dough out on a floured board with a rolling pin that has been floured until it is about 1/8 inch thick. (Deb suggested an 8×10 rectangle.)

I don’t know why I couldn’t roll my dough into a neat 8×10 rectangle. It still worked.

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5. Cut the dough into 1-inch squares with a sharp knife or pizza cutter. You can put a bit of flour on the blade of the knife to keep it from sticking.Use the flat end of a wooden skewer to poke a hole in the center of each cracker.

6. Place the crackers at least ¼ inch apart on parchment paper on a baking sheet.

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7. Bake for 12 – 15 minutes until the edges are just starting to brown. (Mine took 13minutes.)

8. Put the baking sheet on a rack and let the crackers cool completely.

These are on my list of must make recipes! I love Cheezits and never buy them because I’m sure I can make them better myself. Saw these when first posted on Smitten Kitchen and bookmarked it but haven’t tried it yet. There are two blocks of Tillamook cheddar in my fridge right now and one of them is reserved for these crackers!

I’m a 19 year old college student, I was using stumbleupon, when I stumbled onto this recipe. I’m not much of a cook but the recipe looked so simple I had to try it! I just pulled them out of the oven and they look yummy, not quite as good as yours, but I’ll get better with time lol. I think I made them a little too thick, time to go buy a rolling pin!

I need to know do you use all purpose flour or self rising flour? I am looking for something easy but like a southern cheese straw. I use a cookie press with cheese straws and it is hard work. I am looking forward to making your recipe.

These were fantastic! I Stumbled Upon this recipe late last night, and they looked so easy and delicious I had to make them right then. My husband and I enjoyed them immensely – for about 10 minutes. They go so fast! Nice work, Kath. I’ll be keeping this recipe forever. 🙂

Did you use a food processor to mix the dough? I would have a hard time getting the right texture without a food processor, although I’m sure it could be done. I’ve made the recipe a couple of times, and 1 tablespoon of milk works for me.

For whatever reason, if your dough is too dry, you could try adding a bit more milk. Just thoroughly mix in a tablespoon or so at a time until it comes together into a workable dough.

A friend pointed me this way, since I can’t have commercial cheese crackers (they contain milk and I’m allergic). I’m going to give this a try with my milk and cheese, but wonder: can I do this in a stand mixer? I don’t have a food processor yet (just a little food chopper…small apartment kitchen, sadly), but it sounds like my mixer would do the same job.

A bit late on joining in. But I used a blender instead of a food processor on a similar recipe and it worked great!
So just in case anyone else is reading, blenders work just fine! I’m going to try this recipe next time. 🙂

Hi Jed,
I think regular whole wheat flour might make it a bit heavy. You could try substituting it for some of the flour. Or you could try White Whole Wheat flour. I got some from King Arthur and found that it works quite well when you want the fiber and nutrition of whole wheat flour. I haven’t tried it with this recipe, however.

I realize I’m late to the game, but that’s life in the fast lane 🙂 I’m constantly looking for healthy replacements for what is in the ‘box’ at the grocery store so I was thrilled to find this recipe. I’m posting because I did do a *full* substitution with *fresh ground* whole wheat and it was a-w-e-s-o-m-e (so says the hubby, and the 9 and 12 year old daughters). I kept everything else the same. Thanks so much! (PS – I found it on Pinterest)

Dear Kathe – I saw the recipe and just had to try them. These are awesome. I made some minor variations – used Cabot Buffalo Wing Sharp Cheddar, needed 1 additional Tbsp of milk, 1 Tbsp Sugar, 1 tsp Cumin seeds and a crush or two of pepper

I made a slight adjustment only because I didn’t have White flour or Sharp cheese…and STILL delicious.. I sub’d Whole Wheat flour, light cheddar cheese and I added 1/4 flax. Just for health benifits. Easy, Delicious, and a little less guilty! I will def try the sharp cheese to see the cheesy difference but was quite happy with the results. Will keep this one in my favorite box.

Hi Kriss! Well, I haven’t tried to figure out the nutritional information for the Cheese Crackers. I know that it would only verify that they are a treat to eat in moderation and only once in a while. 😉 Thanks for your comment!
P.S. Don’t you just love Pinterest? I have so much fun with it!

These were totally delish!! I substituted 1/3 of the flour for whole wheat and next time I may grind up the flakes a bit to prevent the, “Whew! That was a spicy part!” from my kiddos. 🙂 Thanks for a great recipe!

Hi, I saw this on pintrest and pinned it. My daughter made them today. I homeschool and am using this as a combination home ec and math class. She learns to cook and shop and I’m having her figure out the difference in cost for the pre packaged cheese crackers vs. this one. We’ll be trying a different recipe weekly. You were our first recipe and it turned out so very yummy. We made them into larger crackers and had her just roll it out and cut it on the parchment (:-) Cause I’m lazy and didn’t want to move all the little crackers). It was a bit longer for the baking but very yummy. They are for our snack tomorrow.

I LOVE these!! I have made them twice already, great for me as a college student trying to save money. They are a great way to use food that I have left before going home for break, and a great snack to take to the airport. The first time I made them I followed the recipe and they were wonderful, the second time I decided to switch it up a bit, I used white cheddar for the cheese and used garlic powder instead of red pepper flakes. They are PHENOMENAL! I also thought it was easier to use a pizza cutter for making the squares, took a lot less time. You really should try these, great recipe!! Thanks!!

This is incredible! This is almost the same as a recipe for cheese straws that has been in my family for generations. We sprinkle them with paprika before baking, and bake at 450 for about 7 minutes. Pretty cool!

I just made this for the superbowl and I as out of red pepper. So, I used garlic and chili powder….oh my goodness they are delicious!!!!!!! And soooo easy!! But, only thing I recommend is that you maybe double the recipe. With my 3 boys they were gone within 20 minutes!

OK I want to try these but I live in Bush Alaska and dont have a food processor or blender (and the nearest store where I could buy such things is an hour plane ride away). Any suggestions on how to make this without either of those? I do have my KitchenAid but I am not sure how well that will work.

FINALLY had a chance to make these! I’m in serious danger of having them and my cookie dough for lunch today!

I used non-dairy cheddar and pepperjack shredded cheese and wow. They’re kind of chewy (I went 17 minutes on the baking since they didn’t seem to be getting done), but think 15 might’ve been enough. A note to those doing these df: it takes longer to mix them. My blender didn’t like the dough, my little mini chopper didn’t like it, so I alternated between the two and finally got it done. Have a rubber spatula on hand, too, because you’ll need it! I also used vanilla rice milk and that did not alter the taste. The pepperjack really gives it a great kick and I LOVE them =). They might not make it two days…

It seems as if most of the people leaving comments haven’t actually tried to make these, well for those who are searching for a review of them, look no further, I am your girl. These are DELICIOUS!! Easy to make. I doubled the batch and instead of using pepper flakes I used Lawry’s seasoned salt. I am taking them to a cocktail party and I am not worried about there being leftovers I hope made enough!

I definitely would make them to take to a party to share, otherwise I would eat them all! 😉 I bet they were good with the Lawry’s seasoned salt. You really can play with the seasoning. Thanks for your comment!

I just made these last night with white cheddar. They were really good, but really spicy with the red pepper flakes. I had to drink a swallow of milk between each bite. My 3 yo loved them as well, but also was glugging the milk! Next time I’ll just do a pinch of red pepper flakes! Thanks for the recipe!

Hi Tanya, I know that my blender, which is not a very good one, would not be able to handle the dough. However, couple of people have commented that they have successfully made the recipe without a food processor. Crystal, on October 23, said she used a pastry blender. And Stephanie, on October 5, said she had great results just kneading the dough by hand. So it sounds like those are great options! 🙂

Kath– may I post your blog as a link on Bake This Day Our Daily Bread? I am experimenting with sourdough-based crackers and came across this recipe and have adapted it to make a little more airy version of your cracker. Glad to have discovered your work and looking forward to following you!

My mom used to make cheese crackers for their parties (my dad was Colonel in the Air Force and had many personnel under him). I loved them–the crackers. They were apparently great with cocktails. So, this is a very simple recipe and I’m going to try it. I have a Louisiana spice with red pepper that will work for this recipe: Tony’s, we call it. Tony Chachere’s Seasoning.

I choose not to include the nutrient breakdown for the recipes on my blog because there can be so many variables. That said, I did figure this one out for you, using the loseit.com app. According to it, if you eat 1/8 of the recipe (which would be 8 – 9 of the 70 crackers I made) the breakdown is:

have you tried any variations on this recipe? I LOVE this recipe but was thinking about trying it with mozzarella and sun-dried tomatoes… just wondering if there are some other good combinations out there! 🙂

Thanks for letting me know how much you enjoyed it, Linda. I checked out your post on your blog (http://goo.gl/QbWEh7) and loved your idea about freezing the crackers. It’s great to know that it works well. 🙂

We’ve made these several times now! My husband LOVES them rolled really really think and baked to almost burnt so that they’re crunchy. I have to agree that the test awesome that way and you get double the crackers.

For my kids I omit the red pepper flakes and they’re gone in an instant! 🙂